For the first time since opening its doors in 2002, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine has a new leader.
Dr. Sarita Verma has officially taken over from Founding Dean Dr. Roger Strasser as Dean, President and Chief Executive Officer.
As the first female Dean of the School, and only the second in the history of the school, Dr. Verma says her first priority is to engage with the more than 90 communities they serve.
She says she wants to immediately address three current challenges they face.
“Make sure that we get full approval on our inspection for accreditation next year. The second is really to actually ensure that we can address the needs for northern Ontario, especially meeting the health/human resources needs.”
Dr. Verma adds she will advocate for safe, accessible and high quality health services including food, water, and housing security in the north, especially in our remote Indigenous communities.
She says the school will also have to look at launching a fundraising campaign because the medical school is suffering from government cutbacks and the freezing of tuition.
Dr. Sarita Verma will be profiled on the Northwest Monitor News Magazine on Sunday, July 14th following the 9:00am News on CKDR.
You can also visit the Audio link below for the full feature.
